[6] On April 10, 1848, Livingston was appointed the inaugural Chargé d'affaires to Ecuador at Quito, the Chief of Mission or modern equivalent of the U.S.

[9] He succeeded James Chamberlayne Pickett who had served as Plenipotentiary for signing a Treaty of Peace and Commerce with Ecuador.

[10] He presented his credentials on August 12, 1848 and served, during the presidency of Vicente Ramón Roca,[11] until his mission was terminated on November 12, 1849 by a transmitted recall note.

[13] In his role, and due to England's ostensible propping up of former Ecuadorian president Juan José Flores as a monarch, Livingston was instructed to say that "the intervention or dictation, direct or indirect, of European Governments in the affairs of the Independent States of the American Hemisphere will never be viewed with indifference by the government of the United States.

"[14] Livingston was succeeded by John Trumbull Van Alen under the Whig administration of President Zachary Taylor following his election in 1848.

[15] Following his diplomatic career, Livingston worked as a principal officer appraiser in the United States Custom House on Wall Street,[16] under Collector Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence.

It is said here that his appointment on that occasion was in great measure due to the charitable interest which Mrs. Webster took in his peculiar, and, truly touching reverse of fortune, and in the condition of his family.

I have so high a respect for his integrity and feel so much for his situation, and that of his family, that I should be willing to divide with him the contents of my light purse.

"[21] The Loco-focos were a faction of the Democratic Party that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s and was created in New York City as a protest against Tammany Hall.

[24] Shortly after returning to the United States from his European travels, Livingston was married to Mrs. Maria "Harriet" Elizabeth Houston.

[1] Together, they lived in Bleecker Street, in Manhattan,[25] and were the parents of ten children, including:[27] He was an avid family historian and, like his father, shared an appreciation of the fine arts.